Flashback (36): Boarding a Bus with a Can!

Hypocrisy is being practiced all around the world more than anything else including democracy! There's no doubt about it. Not to mention that the thing they call it democracy in West, in countries such as Canada and the US will not fit into many other countries such as, I don't know, Afghanistan! 

Canadians always say to avoid stereotyping and I have written about it before but they are master of the job! This little story occurred probably more than 15 years ago but for some reason came to mind and I thought to say it here because there's not much going on! 

I just had left the work and was walking toward a bus station. There was a convenient store on my way. I stopped by and purchased a can of vegetable juice, opened it and started drinking while continuing my walk to the bus stop. The bus arrived shortly after I reached the stop. I was going to get in and the driver went: Not with that in your hand! I answered by saying: What's wrong with this?! He looked closer and then said: Oh! Okay! Get in! Obviously he had thought that it was a can of Beer! These people here they have all sorts of speculations and assumptions! Why? Simply because they're not open-minded! They're field of vision is very limited! These are the people who, after more than 150 years, still call the Native people of North America, Indians! How stupid is that? It's obvious that the people who have not gone passed Las Vegas or at the most, one of the resorts in Mexico, do not have the capability to understand that not everyone shall be dependent on alcohol and drugs which many of the Canadians are! If I'm walking with a can in my hand in the late evening hours when the sun is almost down, People would assume that I'm holding a can of Beer because that's what Canadians mostly do! I have even seen people on a bus with a paper bag wrapped around their booze, sitting and drinking! 

(Picture: V8 has been the subject of this discussion whether it is a healthy beverage or not. It's not covered here. All I can say that I have not drunk this or any juice for that matter for a very long time, unless I made that juice myself at home but that's me!)

Useless Money

This job that I have been doing since last May has gotten a bit easier now that they put someone to help me although he's more of a screw up than help! It's not too much work and the money is okay but had I been gotten the job that I was originally offered, I would've made an extra  $5 every hour that I have been working there! 

That said, most of this money is useless and I can't spend! I have to save it. Most of my earning has been sitting in the account and I only pay for food and gasoline. The home money is automatically taken out. I can't buy anything unless it's absolutely essential, such as food and gasoline, as I said. And of course occasional maintenance for the car because without that I'm paralyzed! I bought a ticket for Europe before the new year and booked a number of hotels. Cancelled them all just recently! Air Canada keeps your money as a voucher and you can use it later but the money for the hotels are gone! Why did I do that? Because in this toilet that I have trapped myself in(!), having job security is only possible if your work for McDonald's and such, are a good ass-kisser or are Caucasian!

This project will be ended in Aug. and I'm certain that most of the people will be kicked out. Labourer's which consist most of the workforce will easily a job somewhere but I know I'll be struggling. So I started job searching and studying again! I need to overcome this beast before it's too late! 

There's this young Korean fella whom I associate with at time through work. He was once telling me: You're experienced. You'd be fine. You would get a position soon! I was about to burst into laughter and say: Tell it to the asshole employers who for no reason, turned me down! 

(Photo: Money confiscated by law enforcement in Canada as being suspicious for laundering is used for illustration purposes only. My money is in bank!)

Thrift Peak in Feb.

Stout surprised me by saying that he wanted to finish the hike of Thrift Peak with me, this past week! We had an attempt last year which led to getting lost in the woods and he panicking! Later he thanked me for getting him out and back home to his family, alive, although we got home 5 hours later that the scheduled time! I agreed to his suggestion and we headed south on Highway #22 in an unusually mild morning of Feb. 

This time I had my shiny GPSMAP 64® with me and despite the stupidity and negativity that Stout was emitting(!) I was hopeful to make the summit. We parked at the same exact spot that we had parked the last time, which led to the unsuccessful hike and getting lost(!) and followed the trail. The only difference this time was the fact that we had a clearer understanding of our area by using the GPS. Stout was trying to use an App he had installed on his phone and a silly little compass he had purchased but he didn't have a grasp of the App and the stupid compass was not working and eventually fell apart! Following the GPS we finally got on the actual trail and headed up on a steep trail but after a little while the strong wind hit us and when I say strong, I really mean strong! Neither of us are small guys. Stout must be at least 200 Lbs and I think I'm something around 175 Lbs but we were barely able to hold ourselves! A few meters up someone had made a shelter. Stout hunched over and started begging me(!) to go back down! He was worried to face the dark and get lost again! I thought he was right and it was not worth the risk and agreed to go back. It was almost 12:00 and we had about 3.6 Km to hike to reach the summit which would have taken anything from 1.5 to 2 hours depending the status of the trail, the exposure we would have to face and wind. 

Hill of Bob Creek Wildland where Thrift Peak is located. I like the blue sky in this photo

Our walk back to the parking spot didn't have anything special. We took a few pictures and we were just make sure that we are taking the same route that we had taken in the morning. 

We reached the car at about 15:46 and considering the hike had been started at 08:06, approximately, we finished our hike after 07:06 hours. We made a decision to go back and make it to the summit one later, soon! 

(Photo, top: Stout is dragging himself up in the strong wind, getting help from the hiking poles. We ended our hike somewhere close this spot)

Flashback (35): The Steering Wheel

I haven't hung out with The Chef for over a year and a half. Last time I saw him he was kicked out of his job of 17 freaking years because he, I quote, " had touched someone's face at work "!! We all know what that means, He was either walking or riding an old bicycle because he couldn't afford his $5000 annual insurance for his old 1991 vehicle(!) and he was sharing a basement with mice, drunkards and some other members of society at that class!

I asked him to apply for a position with the company I worked for at the time. He came over and filled out the application form. I think the mistake there was that I gave the form to The Evil Woman and obviously because that piece of shit never liked me, his application ended up in trash can. He, nevertheless, took me to Gate of India and we had a meal, celebrating the job he never got! Later after a bad exchange of messages over the phone we never spoke. I only knew that he still was in the same shit-hole and worked as a dishwasher. The term dishwasher, and don't get me wrong I'm not looking down anyone because of their job, should not be considered as a derogatory phrase. George Orwell once had to work as a dishwasher and he's one of the greatest essayists of the all time but The Chef isn't even close to an average human being in the society and he's not alone. There're many of them, especially in Western society, in the countries such as Canada, the US, Britain, you name it! George Orwell, in fact has described them very well in his book, Down and Low in Paris and London which I wrote about it years ago.  

With that in mind, the story brought back a memory of him which I thought it might be amusing to people to read, although it's short. He used to drive a small old car, which I don't remember what brand it was but I have written about it a few times, I think. This goes back to the last years that he drove it because the car was about to fall apart! I don't know what he had done which has caused a major malfunction to the system that supplies fluid to the steering wheel! Turning the steering wheel without fluid is like a grabbing a bull on its horn and trying to turn its head! I, in fact helped him to do that a couple of times or so! He was going to turn while backing up in the parking lot of a Safeway and he would go " Get the wheel! Get the wheel "! And I would helped him to turn. It was so hard that two of us were having trouble turning the wheel! My guess is, and I'm not sure, that was what eventually led to losing his car. He might have gotten to an accident as it was so difficult to turn(!) and the rest is self-explanatory! 

(Picture: This, apparently is, how you add fluid for your steering wheel but his problem was that, and I quote here, the pipe which takes the fluid to where it should be used or the pump was broken!)

Understanding Winter Driving Conditions

Alberta has once again gone back to a warm winter condition while eastern Canada is battling with frigid temperatures. While I'm sitting here at 7 ℃  (~ 44.6 ℉), many in provinces of 

and Manitoba are having temperatures ranging from -13 ℃ (~ 8.6 ℉) to -21 ℃ (~ -5.8 ℉). 

It was the same just a few days ago in Calgary and as a result of that driving was a major issue for many. It resulted in many accidents. I was heading home the Fri. before and I was tempted for a minute to take the company's pick up truck as I had done it before but didn't want anyone to say something. I drove my old sedan.

All sorts of vehicles were either in the ditch or involved in incident. Here's what many don't understand and what I mean by many, I mean many drivers of different vehicles. People think if they're driving a shitty SUV or a big ass pick up truck, they're immune to incidents and speed up and down the roads and highways. That is not the case. I was driving northbound Deerfoot Trial and at a curve I slowed down because it was extremely slippery. I could easily feel the vehicle dancing on the ice. An SUV sped off my left and then at the curve span and hardly stopped! I slowly passed him while looking at a van and couple of other vehicles who had hit the guard rail and had been damaged. I continued slowly until I reached home safely, without any issue, just a little later than usual. 

Two vehicles, both SUVs are sitting at the side of a road, beautifully(!) waiting for a tow truck to come and save them from their misery! That is the beauty of Alberta winter which proves SUVs worth shit!

The thing about winter driving here in Alberta is these sort of incidents happen every year and caused by the people who either were born and raised in the country but also have been driving for years! Still don't understand that winter driving is different from normal driving! 

This makes both the body shops and insurance companies happy. Not to mention the law enforcement agencies and tow truck companies. I don't know if it has any affects on tire sellers because most of the people are under the impression that the so-called All Season Tires would be good enough for driving in winter, because winter is a season of the all seasons! 

The only reason I've been able to drive safely in the past 3 winters is I bought 2 sets of winter tires back in early 2020 when it was the pick of Covid-19. I probably have to replace them next year.

(Photo, top: I actually stopped at the side of the highway and put my hazards on to take this picture!)